Walk into The Shop Around The Corner on any given day, and you’ll find just about the same happy scenario each time: Upbeat music that flows from one room to the next, customers passing pleasantries with booth owners, and a cheery blonde who greets you at the door.
It’s not a stuffy furniture shop, and it’s not a store full of dark antiques, either. The Shop Around The Corner is an eclectic mix from six vendors, where you can find architectural lighting pieces hanging over a down-filled sofa with bright pillows, and an old-world European table.
“We want to offer something different and unique,” says owner Teresa Powers. “We’re trying to fill a niche.”
Multiple rooms divide the 3,200 square feet on Third Avenue North into a mecca for one-stop shoppers. Here’s a room devoted to clothing and accessories, right next to one with mainly antiques – which is connected to space filled with French-inspired furniture. There’s no heavy-handed style in The Shop Around The Corner, and Teresa meant it to be that way.
“You could come in and decorate your whole house, no matter the style,” she says. “We all have different tastes, and there’s so much to choose from.”
She points across from the couch where she’s sitting.
“I love a lot of color, see?” Teresa says. “But this room [that we’re in] doesn’t have that.”
When Teresa took over ownership of the store in March 2010, there were only three vendors. She carefully selected six sellers, changed the name to The Shop Around The Corner, and soon saw every corner filling with unique products that had customers running to Franklin to purchase.
“You meet a lot of interesting people here,” she says. “Customers from just all over…” She trails off as she mentions places like Indiana, Ohio, England and Scotland.
The Nashville native was a successful interior designer for more than 15 years before taking over The Shop Around The Corner. For Teresa, this experience supplies a segue into helping customers find what they love, which is her favorite aspect of owning the store.
“I can visualize what they’re looking for, and help find it no matter what booth,” she says. “I love finding that piece and seeing their expression.”
Teresa says she’s been amazed at the welcoming – and the subsequent success – that the store has found in Middle Tennessee.
“I go home and think ‘really?’” Teresa says. “I thank God every day.”
When asked the secret to the store’s popularity, she doesn’t hesitate to point the finger at Franklin. She says it has to do not only with the town itself, but also its seemingly strong economy that other cities are not as fortunate to have.
“I think it’s the historic charm of it,” she says.
But Teresa, who lives in Brentwood, also says a lot of it has to do with the people of here.
“It just seems like everyone is so happy to be here,” Teresa says. “You walk down the street, and everyone is just glad to see you.”